In Gaza, where universities lie in rubble and classrooms have been replaced by screens, education has refused to die. Amid the constant hum of drones and power outages, students and educators have fought to keep learning — and to restore their campuses for the next generation.

Studying was “an escape,” amid the genocide, said Aseel, a student of English translation at the Islamic University of Gaza, “a small space of hope and achievement that gave me motivation to keep going.”

Students and faculty at the Islamic University of Gaza, where I study English literature, described in interviews how they kept studying throughout two years of genocide by charging their laptops with solar energy, watching recorded lectures, and meeting in improvised study groups. The stopgap measures have allowed education to continue amid the most extreme conditions, but Gaza’s universities now need millions of dollars to rebuild the educational system. The Islamic University recently announced that it had begun initial renovations.

Samah, a 21-year-old translation student at the Islamic University, said studying online felt like “a desperate attempt to keep learning despite everything.”

“It was frustrating,” she said. “The internet was weak, and I’d lose time reconnecting. But after every exam I managed to pass, I felt an achievement — it gave me strength to continue.”

Israel’s destructive campaign often cuts off internet access entirely. “If I had the slides and books printed, I could study temporarily until power and the internet came back,” said Aseel. “We depended mainly on recorded lectures — they were comprehensive, but there was little engagement.”

“If I had the slides and books printed, I could study temporarily until power and the internet came........

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